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TRAHAEARN ap CARADOG
(d.
1081
),
king of Gwynedd
.

He is said to have been the son of one
Caradog ap Gwyn ap Collwyn
and a cousin of
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn
. By natural right ruler of
Arwystli
, his career
between 1075 and 1081
is one of the foremost illustrations in
Welsh
history of how a bold and ambitious personality among the minor lords of
Wales
could usurp regal powers over an extensive
area at moments when the fortunes of the major dynasties were at a low ebb. On
Bleddyn
's death in
1075
, he seized authority in
Gwynedd
. Challenged by
Gruffudd ap Cynan
, the representative of the old Venedotian house, he was defeated at
Dyffryn Glyngin
in
Meirionydd
, but later in the year he retrieved himself at
Bron yr Erw
and drove
Gruffudd
into second exile in
Ireland
. In
1078
he invaded
South Wales
and killed its
king
(
Rhys ab Owain
) at
Goodwick
. The general threat to old established interests eventually brought
Gruffudd
and
Rhys ap Tewdwr
into alliance, and together they imposed a crushing defeat on their opponent at the well-known
battle of Mynydd Carn
, fought in
1081
, and in which
Trahaearn
met his end. He left four sons —
Meurig
,
Griffri
,
Llywarch
, and
Owain
. His descendants ruled in
Arwystli
until it was absorbed into
Powys
by
Gwenwynwyn
. A grand-daughter,
Gwladus
, m.
Owain Gwynedd
; her son was
Iorwerth Drwyndwn
, father of
Llywelyn the Great
.

Sources:

A History of Wales: from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest
;